Clue #96: The Black Hand of Serbia

Posted at 1:37 p.m. (PDT) on Tues., Aug. 4th:

Set events spiraling out of control: {then, in Serbian using Cyrillic characters, the phrase} Unification or Death

The phrase "Unification or Death" (in Serbian) was the motto of an early 20th century political conspiracy group, known (in English) as the Black Hand. (Their seal is shown above; the Cyrillic characters around the top half of the seal are what was shown in the Twitter clue.) Like the real-world Illuminati, the Black Hand embraced assassination as an acceptable means to meet its objectives. Unlike the real-world Illuminati, the Black Hand actually killed people, most famously including Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, the heir presumptive to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife Princess Sophie; their assassination was the match that ignited the global agony of World War I.

Okay. So the Black Hand was a secret conspiratorial organization. But would there be any special reasons to mention them in a clue about The Lost Symbol? There sure are:

• The members of the Black Hand were assassins. Dan Brown likes to begin his novels with assassinations--in his Langdon novels, these are gory, bloody, nasty assassinations.
• The Black Hand started a global war. The Lost Symbol takes place in Washington, DC, where decisions are made about global war and peace.
• The name, "Black Hand," has been used by several groups in addition to the Serbian nationalists of a century ago: gangsters in Italy, Islamist militants in Palestine in the 1930s, Frisian noblemen's forces, and several other real and hypothetical groups. We already have seen the Twitter clues use one name that points to two distinct groups: "Sons of Liberty" (Clue 34).

Put it all together, and one might expect some group known as "the Black Hand" to be involved in some highest-of-all-possible-stakes conspiracy: something that could lead to global warfare, in Washington, DC. This group might only share a name with the Serbian group mentioned in this clue.

Then again, perhaps the Dan Brown version of the Black Hand that started WWI was only a front for another secret society, one that started (in the real world) in a state adjoining the Austro-Hungarian Empire where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, that is, Bavaria.

Where the Illuminati were founded.

(The name "Black Hand" shows up lots of places. I'm not even counting the band, the role-playing game villians, the comic book villians, or the inn--yes, the inn. Oh, all right, so it's a music album title. But if it were a real inn -- can you imagine making a reservation? "Hello, Black Hand Inn? Yes, I'd like to make a reservation for two, please, the Honeymoon Package: heart-shaped bathtub, candlelight dinner in the room, and complimentary assassination of all my sweetheart's former romantic interests.")

Copyright 2009 Mark E. Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.

Clue #35: The Great Seal of the U.S.

The 35th Twitter clue, sent at about 2 p.m. (PDT) on Wed. July 8th:

Our favored endeavor in the language of the Tiber.

Of course, the language of the Tiber river area in ancient Rome was Latin. The phrase that is being hinted at in this clue is one of the two most reproduced Latin phrases in the world -- given that they are on the back of every $1 bill currently in circulation in the United States. The phrase is annuit coeptis, and it appears on the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States (shown above). The phrase translates to "He [that is, God] has favored [our] endeavors"; it may also be translated as "he has approved [our] undertakings." (The front or 'obverse' side of the Great Seal is the side with the eagle on it.)

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That is the surface solution to the clue. However, this being a clue about a Dan Brown novel, we need to consider what else this clue brings up. Of course, we also have to consider what this all tells us about The Lost Symbol.

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To mention the one phrase, annuit coeptis, is to point a finger at the entire of the reverse side of the Great Seal. Let's take a good look at that, and consider its implications for the novel.

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The Interpretation of the Reverse of the Great Seal

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The reverse of the Great Seal of the United States has been the subject of more frankly bizarre and even paranoid writing than any other other single object or image that I can think of. This is so, even though the actual interpretation of the objects on the Great Seal is easy to find, in several places; one such place is this excellent article on Wikipedia. Let's go over the elements of the Seal one by one, and consider two different approaches to interpretation: the real life one, and the grossly paranoid one.

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For the real life interpretation, I'll be using the explanation given by Charles Thomson, the man who actually designed the Seal at the request of Congress. Thomson was the Secretary of the U.S. Congress, to whom Congress gave all the material submitted by three prior committees who had been asked to submit ideas for the seal. Thompson received these materials on June 13, 1782, and submitted his own ideas a week later. (His full description is available in several places, including the Wikipedia article.) Incidentally, let me say at the outset: Thomson was not a Freemason.

For the grossly paranoid conspiratorial approach, I will use Nicholas Hagger's book, The Secret Founding of America: The Real Story of Freemasons, Puritans and the Battle for the New World (London: Watkins, 2007; paperback, 2009); I am focusing on pp. 136-139 of the hardcover edition. I do not mean to compliment the book, because it is a rat's nest of gullibility, rumor, truly wild fantasy, and nonsense -- but there is a lot of that going around these days, and someone has to respond to it. Hagger claims that the Great Seal of the U.S., both sides, was inspired by the similar seal of the Illuminati -- no example of which has been reported by legitimate historians, of course. (Looking at his footnotes and references, I think Hagger has simply taken other conspiracy writers' word for it. Read about the Illuminati in the posts here for Clues #5 and #33.)

So here goes.

The Pyramid

Thomson brought in the unfinished pyramid with 13 courses of stone, and the Eye atop it, from the designs of the third committee, who in turn had taken the pyramid, apparently, from the design of the $50 note. Thomson wrote that "the pyramid signifies Strength and Duration." Makes sense: the Egyptian pyramids have been there a long time. For a fledgling nation, having a pyramid as a symbol would be like a positive affirmation in our day: "Yes, I will endure."

Hagger states that Ben Franklin came into contact with the Illuminati in Paris, and looked at their symbol as an inspiration of the Great Seal of the U.S. "The Illuminati Seal's reverse side showed a Templar 13-layered, four sided pyramid with its capstone missing. ... The esoteric significance of the pyramid was connected with Atlantis. There was a belief that the university of Atlantis, where all arts and sciences originated, was housed in a pyramid with an observatory at the top where the stars could be studied."

Later, specifically in relation to the American seal, Haggar writes: "The Templar pyramid suggests there is a plan to build a New Atlantis in a New World and that it is America's spiritual destiny to complete its building. The Utopian pyramid is in fact a world government in which all nations are bricks ... a new Tower of Babel where all languages will be heard."

The Eye at the Apex of the Pyramid

Thomson: "The Eye over it [the pyramid] & the Motto allude to the many signal interpositions of providence in favour of the American cause." That is, the eye and motto signify the many times God came to the aid of the Americans in the war. Fair enough: the colonists had a lot of good breaks in their war against England, a far more powerful nation, and they attributed that to God.

Hagger on the Illuminati symbol, taken over for the American Seal: "Above [the pyramid] was a triangle in sun-rays and within it the All-Seeing Eye of Osiris and Sion, which some said represented Weishaupt's spying system." He considers this a symbol of both the Illuminati and Freemasonry.

The Date on the Pyramid

Thomson: "The date is that of the Declaration of Independence."

Hagger on the Illuminati seal: "On the bottom layer [of the pyramid] in Latin was a date, 1776, the year Weishaupt founded the Illuminati."

The Top Motto: Annuit Coeptis

As noted above, Thomson said the motto above the pyramid alluded to the help of God in favor of the American cause. The motto was the idea of Thomson, a former Latin teacher; the correct translation from the Latin is clearly along the lines of "he has favored our endeavor."

Hagger on the Illuminati seal: "The 13 letters in Annuit Coeptis ('Announcing the Birth') suggested 13 October 1307, when Templarism was first persecuted, and the 13 degrees of Templar initiation."

The Bottom Motto: Novus Ordo Seclorum

Thomson contributed the bottom motto as well; the correct Latin translation is clearly "A New Order of the Ages." (The word "secular," as in non-religious, does not work in here at all.) Thomson says that "the words under it [that is, the date 1776] signify the beginning of the new American Aera [that is, Era], which commences from that date."

Hagger on the U.S. seal: "The full Latin text on the reverse [that is, of the Great Seal] thus reads: 'Announcing the Birth of a New Secular Order' (or 'New World Order')."

How This All Might Work Into The Lost Symbol

I have gone into detail here to show that there are really two entirely different views of reality that can be applied to the reverse of the Great Seal. In the real life one, it is the symbol of the hopes of a new nation. In the fantasy one, it is the symbol of conspiracy and mind control. Where might Dan Brown be going with this symbol?

What do you think?

One Final Note: The Eye-in-the-Triangle, Freemasonry, and the Illuminati

This would be a good place to address an often-repeated but totally inaccurate set of claims, to the effect that the eye-in-the-triangle motif is a special sign of Freemasonry or the Illuminati.

This idea is certainly prevalent in popular society. For example, the eye-in-the-triangle is depicted as the sign of the Illuminati in the popular movie, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." However, the reality is that the real Illuminati, the Bavarian Illuminati founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776, did not use this symbol. The association between the Illuminati and this symbol is entirely in the imaginations of the more fringe-y parts of the conspiracy theorist community, who cite one another's fantasies as fact and claim to have done real "research."

As far as Freemasonry is concerned, the story is a bit more complicated. Yes, Freemasons have used the symbol of the eye-in-the-triangle for many years; I even give a rare example incorporating the eye-in-the-triangle with the Masonic compasses in the illustration to my post about Freemasonry. However, the symbol did not originate with Freemasonry. One can find it, for example, in Christian artwork, such as Jacopo Carucci's "Supper at Emmaus" (1525). It also occurs in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (as noted Masonic author Christopher Hodapp and Alice VonKannon point out in the May 1, 2009 post regarding the Illuminati on their blog, "Conspiracy Theories and Secret Societies for Dummies" -- with a lovely photo, too).

Thus, the most that one can claim about this is that the symbol occurs in Freemasonry, but it did not originate within Freemasonry.

[The image was obtained from the Wikimedia Commons through Wikipedia. As a product of the U.S. Federal government, it is in the public domain.]

(Copyright 2009 Mark E. Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.)

Clue #33: Adam Weishaupt, reputed honorary Founding Father

We now delve deep into the aluminum-hat sector of the Land of Conspiracy Theory.

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The 33rd Twitter clue, sent at about 7:30 a.m. PDT, Wed. July 8th:

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Ehrenhalber gruendervater?

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[Note: I cannot represent in Blogger the u-umlaut -- the "u with two dots over it" in gruendervater, and so, per the usual practice, added the first "e."]

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This is German for "honorary founding father?"; however, in contrast to Clue #29, which was about someone who is acknowledged by legitimate historians as an 'honorary founding father' (the French philosopher Voltaire), this Twitter clue involves someone who is only claimed as an 'honorary founding father' by the most fringe-y of conspiracy researchers.

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You see, there is no German intellectual who provided philosophical inspiration to the American Founding Fathers, no parallel to Voltaire. (Military leaders of any nation, like the German von Steuben, do not count for the status of "founding father"; among American Founding Fathers, only Washington was military.) However, for over two centuries, it has been rumored that there was a German -- actually, a Bavarian -- who acted as the secret force behind the American Revolution: Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Bavarian Illuminati, upon whom I focused in my consideration of Clue #5.

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A lot of people were actually less than happy with the American Revolution. A lot of Loyalists (people who supported the English crown) were put out by being forced to leave the former colonies for their political position. A lot of clergy of "established" churches (churches formerly supported by the government) were troubled by the withdrawal of support, which they took to be an attempt to undermine religion generally. Overall, many people in the new United States -- echoing even greater numbers of people in Europe, still under the power of Crown and Church -- were troubled by the direction that the new Republic was taking, in denying aristocrats and clergy their former privileged position in government.

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Thus arose the rumor that the inspiration of the new Republic was actually the Illuminati, the anticlerical, antiroyalist secret society, also founded in 1776 (although in Bavaria) by Weishaupt (pictured above). Although the Illuminati were suppressed beginning in 1784, and essentially extinct by 1793, it was in their afterlife that the Illuminati really got going.

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In the 1790s and thereafter, American clergy preached sermons from their pulpits against the supposed influence of the Illuminati in the United States. Books originally published in Europe alleging the ongoing Illuminist conspiracy, such as John Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy (1797), were widely read in the United States and fanned the flames of what amounted to hysteria. The first novel by the first American to make his living as a novelist, Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland (and his unfinished Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist) involved the role of an Illuminati agent in America impersonating the voice of God to convince a man to murder his wife and children. Thomas Jefferson himself had to answer charges that he was an Illuminatus.

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It gets better. The 1970s-era Illuminatus! trilogy of novels, by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson (two editors at Playboy), put forth the rumor that Adam Weishaupt left Europe, came to the United States, murdered George Washington and actually took Washington's place as first President of the U.S. Now, looking at the portrait of Weishaupt above, you can see how this rumor began. However, incredibly enough, there are those who believe today that this actually happened!

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No, it gets even better. Current on-the-fringe proponents of conspiracy theories -- people like Jim Marrs, Texe Marrs, and David Icke -- say that the modern world is under the secret control of the Illuminati even today. For Jim Marrs, the Illuminati are political powers; for Texe Marrs, they are Satanists; for David Icke, they are reptile-like space aliens. (No, I am not making this up.)

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How will the Illuminati and Weishaupt figure into The Lost Symbol? Good question. In the Dan Brown universe, the Illuminati were a society of scientists founded in the 1500s in Rome; in reality, they were a society of anticlerical, antiroyalist conspirators founded in 1776 in Bavaria. Perhaps Brown will include Weishaupt and the Bavarian Illuminati as a later incarnation of his scientific society; after all, in Angels & Demons, Robert Langdon said the Illuminati had taken a "darker" turn. It looks as if Brown will be resurrecting the old rumors about the Illuminati being involved in the founding of the American republic. However, this being Dan Brown, you can be sure that he will add twists and turns and unforeseen developments galore.

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Incidentally, it is a nice touch by the clue authors to make this the 33rd Twitter clue. Of course, the number "33" (in a triangle, yet!) figures into the newly released cover of The Lost Symbol (see the post on Clue #31). The ruling body of the Scottish Rite is described as the Supreme Council, 33rd degree. And, of course, in the fringe of the conspiracy theory community, Scottish Rite 33rd degree Freemasons supposedly rule the world.

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Copyright 2009 Mark E. Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.

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Clue #5: "Illuminati ... Perfectabilists"

The 5th Twitter clue, sent at 1:45 p.m. PDT on Wed., June 24th:

Before they were Illuminati, they were Perfectabilists.

A great number of issues are bound together in this simple tweet--issues of fact, issues of fiction, and a great deal of dispute about which is which.

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At present, I am working on a book, The Illuminati: The True History and Strange Afterlife of the Most Feared Secret Society in History. I have found the issues surrounding the Illuminati to be fascinating, as a mixture of real history and the psychology of conspiracy--a mixture that has influenced American national politics for over 200 years, down to our own day. Here, I'll mention just a few things that are most relevant to The Lost Symbol.

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The Real History of the Illuminati

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The Illuminati really existed; you may also read about them here. The organization was founded in Bavaria by Adam Weishaupt (pictured above, and featured in Clue #33) on May 1, 1776. (What a date! The pagan holiday of Walpurgisnacht, or Mayday, in the year of the American Declaration of Independence!) The group was revolutionary in origin, seeking to overthrow the power of aristocracy and monarchy in favor of a form of government resembling democracy. The group also sought to overthrow the political and social power of the Catholic Church, in favor of instituting reason and logic as principles by which to govern the world and educate humankind.

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The tweet is technically correct. The Illuminati were originally known as Perfectabilists, reflecting their belief that people could achieve a sort of perfection through rigorous devotion to reason and logic, rather than through supernatural means (such as the atonement of Christ).

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The Illuminati was a truly "secret society," in that it tried to keep its very existence secret. The Illuminati infiltrated dozens of Masonic lodges in central Europe, where they sought to recruit members whom they hoped to lead, through a system of ritual degree ceremonies resembling Masonry, from a position of belief in God to a position of atheism, devoted to the overthrow of monarchy and church. The leadership of the group believed that, to further this endeavor, any means were justified, including political assassination.

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To understand the Bavarian Illuminati, it is important to understand the political context of their times. American-style democracy had not been invented, and people throughout central Europe in particular were ruled by absolute monarchs who essentially held power of life and death over the people they governed. Dissent was crushed. In addition, the major church of the period held a significant degree of political power; in religious matters as well as political ones, dissent was not tolerated. The emphasis that the Illuminati placed on freedom of thought and expression was very appealing to some people, including even members of the aristocracy, and German literary figures such as Goethe and Herder; reportedly, the Illuminati reached a membership of about 2,000 during the decade or so of its existence.

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The Illuminati were strong on rhetoric, weak on action. They assassinated no one, despite their "ends justify the means" ethics. However, when their aims became known to the governing authorities, they were crushed by the rulers of several countries, beginning in 1784. By the early 1790s, for all practical purposes the Illuminati had ceased to exist.

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And it was then, after the group known as the Illuminati died, that it really got to work.

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The Strange Afterlife of the Illuminati

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The late 18th and early 19th centuries were a time of monumental social change -- which meant, not only positive changes like the rise of democracy, but also social disruption that was experienced as very negative by a number of people. In the mid-18th century, before the Revolutionary War, many American colonists considered themselves loyal to the British crown; after the war, thousands of these people left their homes and businesses and moved, to Canada, England, and elsewhere, leaving behind thousands of relatives and friends who were quite ambivalent about losing their connections. Right after the Revolutionary War, several American states had "established churches" -- that is, churches that had special privileges under state law, perhaps including support by tax dollars; over the course of the ensuing years, this support was withdrawn (given that the Constitution of the United States, which became operative in 1789, provided for a separation of church and state).

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Political changes, social changes, religious changes -- a lot of people had problems fully accepting this; for a lot of people, some of this was actually bad. And, when bad things happen, someone must be blamed; at the very least, a scapegoat must be found.

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That's where the Illuminati came in.

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The Illuminati have been the scapegoat of American politics (and, to some extent, European politics) for the last 200 years. In the early 19th century, clergy across the land, especially in the Northeast, preached about the dangers to society posed by the Illuminati. The horrific excesses of the French Revolution were blamed on the Illuminati. The suppression of American Freemasonry in the first half of the 19th century was, in part, based on fear of the Illuminati. In our day, particularly since the middle of the 20th century, the Illuminati have been blamed for everything from AIDS and the current Great Recession to the flouridation of public drinking water. (Google "Illuminati" and you'll see what I mean.)

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At the moment, the Illuminati are mentioned primarily by the more wild-eyed-fringey portions of the conspiracy theory community, but these people have a greater following than you might think. (Consider the popularity in some circles of the writings of Jim Marrs, Texe Marrs, and David Icke.)

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And it's all a pile of hooey. The Illuminati died out in the late 18th century. They are kept 'alive' in the minds of ignorant people today because we, as a society, have done such a poor job of teaching critical thinking skills. That, however, is a rant for another venue and time.

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The Illuminati in Dan Brown's Fiction

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Fans of Dan Brown will remember that fear of the Illuminati plays an important role in Angels and Demons. After touching upon the conflict between Renaissance-era science and religion, Robert Langdon and the scientist Kohler have a conversation, Langdon stating this:

"But in the 1500s, a group of men in Rome fought back against the church. Some of Italy's most enlightened men -- physicists, mathematicians, astronomers -- began meeting secretly to share their concerns about the church's inaccurate teachings. They feared that the church's monopoly on 'truth' threatened academic enlightenment around the world. They founded the world's first scientific think tank, calling themselves 'the enlightened ones.'"
"The Illuminati."
"Yes," Langdon said. "Europe's most learned minds ... dedicated to the quest for scientific truth."

(See Chapter 9 of Angels and Demons for Dan Brown's account of the Illuminati's backstory.)

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So, in Dan Brown's universe, the Illuminati were founded in 16th century Rome, not late 18th century Bavaria (now part of Germany) -- a difference of about 200 years and 480 miles. Brown's Illuminati were primarily scientists, rather than political and literary figures. And, as his novel relates, they were ruthlessly suppressed by the church, rather than by the governments of central Europe. Hey -- literary license covers a lot of ground!

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The tweet suggests that the Illuminati make some sort of appearance in The Lost Symbol. My guess is that Brown will portray the Illuminati infiltration of the Masonic lodges as having gone on in the New World, rather than (as actually happened) being confined to continental Europe. Brown's Illuminati would have no problem influencing the Founding Fathers, because Brown's Illuminati were founded over two centuries before the American Declaration of Independence -- rather than just over two months before July 4, 1776, as happened in reality.

[The image above of Adam Weishaupt was obtained from the Wikimedia Commons through Wikipedia. Its source is unknown, but the image is in the public domain.]

(Copyright 2009 Mark E. Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.)

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